Justin Turner’s ninth-inning homer lifts Dodgers to 3-2 win over Giants

Justin Turner lifted his left leg, raised his knee to his waist and returned his foot to the ground. He performs this gesture before almost every pitch he sees, but in the ninth inning of Friday’s 3-2 victory over the Giants, a rare thing happened in his slump-ridden season. He set up on time.

Turner loaded his body into the hitting position so he was ready for a fat slider from San Francisco closer Santiago Casilla. Turner ripped a line drive into left field, a screamer that barely cleared the fence. It landed just out of reach, a go-ahead home run that brought his dugout to life.

“To get a good result out of that is a good feeling,” Turner said. “I’ll just show up tomorrow and continue to work, and try to be as consistent as possible.”

Inside the scrum of Dodgers (33-29), an ever-widening smile creased the face of Clayton Kershaw (9-1, 1.52 earned-run average). He had toiled for eight rugged innings, unable to fully suppress the Giants but still able to strike out 13 of them. He gave up two runs, yielding more than one for just the sixth time in 13 starts. The homer put him in line for the victory.

Unable to touch Giants starter Johnny Cueto after the first inning, Turner took advantage of a flammable reliever such as Casilla. The Dodgers captured the first game of this series, opening a pivotal week against division foes by pulling to three games behind the Giants in the National League West.

“We’re chasing those guys,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “We still have a lot of baseball to play, but when you’re playing a division rival you’re chasing, you’ve got to play well. This is a big three-game series for us.”

The Dodgers benefited from an erratic opening by Cueto. He completed a bizarre trifecta within the first three at-bats. First he hit Chase Utley with his second pitch of the game, a misplaced slider. After a single by Corey Seager, Cueto zipped a wild pitch past the glove of catcher Buster Posey.

Both runners advanced into scoring position, which set the table for the strange third act. With the count full against Turner, Cueto paused his delivery and wiggled his shoulders. He refers to this movement as “la mecedora,” otherwise known as “the rocking chair.” The trick is a regular part of Cueto’s arsenal, a deviation intended to upset the hitter’s timing.

Watching from first base, umpire Bill Welke decided it was something different. He called a balk, which forced in a run and upset Giants Manager Bruce Bochy. His argument with the umpiring crew was fruitless. The Dodgers squeezed across a second run with a single by Adrian Gonzalez.

Thus in a four-batter sequence, the Dodgers scored more runs than they did on Monday (one) and Wednesday (zero) combined. They did so against a pitcher who entered the night with a 2.16 ERA and nine victories in 12 starts. What followed was more typical for these Dodgers: They did not produce another hit until Turner’s homer.

The Giants halved the deficit in the bottom of the inning. Kershaw throws his slider with impressive velocity, sometimes pushing the pitch to 90 mph. But location is still critical. He left a slider in the heart of the zone for Giants third baseman Matt Duffy, who lifted his first home run since the first week of the season.

“The first slider of the game wasn’t very good, and he pounced all over it,” Kershaw said.

The blast trimmed the lead but did not rattle Kershaw. He returned to strike out the side in the second inning. Riddled with injuries, the Giants sported a batting order with five left-handed batters, assembling a row of late-lineup fodder. Kershaw finished the game with as many swinging strikes (30) as balls.

After Duffy went deep, Kershaw set aside the next 11 hitters. He escaped a jam in the fifth. The sixth was less kind to him.

A hanging slider was punched for a single by second baseman Joe Panik. Two batters later, Kershaw dueled with Posey. Kershaw spun a slider across the inner half of the plate. Posey pounded a game-tying double off the center-field wall.

“A couple of the hard-hit balls were sliders,” Kershaw said. “It probably wasn’t as good as it could be.”

Kershaw lasted two more innings. He struck out two in the eighth, but screamed twice into his glove as he exited the diamond. His shouts turned to joy only moments later, as Turner’s game winner disappeared from sight.

“Everyone in this clubhouse knows how important this one was,” Roberts said. “We’re going to enjoy it.”

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes